(Louth and Horncastle) (Con): What steps she
is taking to confiscate money from criminals; and how she plans
further to strengthen the asset recovery programme. [901141]
The Minister for Security (Mr Ben Wallace):
Since 2010, we have recovered £1.4 billion under the Proceeds of
Crime Act 2002. The Criminal Finances Act 2017 provides important
new powers to improve the asset recovery system, such as
unexplained wealth orders and the forfeiture of bank accounts.
The Government are also implementing the recommendations of a
2016 Public Accounts Committee report, and our asset recovery
action plan will be published by the end of the calendar year.
: Serious criminals view prison as an
occupational hazard, but they do not like it when law enforcement
hits them in the wallet and goes after their illegally obtained
assets. Will my right hon. Friend assure me and the House that
the National Crime Agency will use the exciting new powers,
including unexplained wealth orders, that it has been given?
Mr Wallace: I can give my hon. Friend that
assurance. We are determined that unexplained wealth orders
should be used not only by the NCA but by broader law enforcement
to ensure that people have to prove where they got their wealth.
Using that reverse burden of proof makes sure that we progress to
taking an asset if a criminal’s wealth is unexplained and might
have resulted from criminality.
Mr (Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op): Is the Minister aware that we regard the
National Crime Agency as a bunch of amateurs in this field?
People are increasingly talking about a big Russian mafia
presence in London that is spending huge fortunes on organising
crime. When will he take those people seriously and do something
about them?
Mr Wallace: The hon. Gentleman will be delighted
to know—it might make him a bit happier—that that is why
unexplained wealth orders, when applied to people outside the
European economic area, have a lower burden of proof in court, so
that we can freeze their assets and ensure that such people prove
where they got their billions. We can then take the money and
redistribute it back to the people who need it, either the law
enforcement agencies or back to the countries from which they
might have stolen it.
(Delyn) (Lab): Can
the Minister assure me that we will retain the European arrest
warrant, retain co-operation with other European police forces
and use all the powers we have in Europe, as well as in the
United Kingdom, to bring such assets to justice?
Mr Wallace: I totally agree with the right hon.
Gentleman. It is exactly our goal to keep all those measures, but
there is another party on the other side of the negotiating
table. We would like to keep those measures, and we will ask for
that—perhaps he could ask them, too—and let us hope they give it
to us.
